The proposed research will use data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. couples to investigate fertility motivation, fertility desires and contraceptive behavior within the marital dyad. Analysis of interview data from 434 husband-wife pairs who responded to the 1975 Attitudes About Children survey will be guided by a "cooperative-individual" theory of fertility, which incorporates the individual motivations and desires of husband and wife; the social and psychological processes which promote agreement or disagreement between husband and wife; and the resolution of husband-wife disagreement on fertility desires to determine contraceptive use. The theory and data to be utilized in the proposed research assume that fertility desires are a function of the expected net utility of having children. The research will identify distinct dimensions of expected utility, examine relationships between those dimensions and fertility desires, and investigate husband-wife differences in those relationships. Structural equation models will be estimated expressing the determination of husband-wife agreement on fertility motivation and fertility desires in terms of homogamy, shared marital experiences, and direct marital partner influence. Models of joint and unilateral contraceptive use will also be developed and estimated. The results of the proposed research will provide valuable evidence on the marginal benefits of interviewing both marital partners rather than one, and the relative merits of interviewing the husband versus the wife, in studies of fertility motivation and fertility desires. In particular, the results will demonstrate the effect of taking into account the direct influence of the partner when estimating socioeconomic and demographic effects on individual fertility motivation and desires.